“You want these fanatics to have nuclear weapons?”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Iran’s leaders were guided by “unbelievable fanaticism” and warned American policymakers that containment would not work against a nuclear-armed Tehran.

In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” to air on Sunday, Netanyahu dismissed suggestions that a nuclear Iran would behave as the Soviet Union did during the Cold War.

“I think Iran is very different. They put their zealotry above their survival,” said Netanyahu.

“I wouldn’t rely on their rationality,” he continued. “Since the advent of nuclear weapons, you have countries that had access to nuclear weapons who always made a careful calculation of cost and benefit. But Iran is guided by a leadership with an unbelievable fanaticism.”

“It’s the same fanaticism that you see storming your embassies today,” Netanyahu added, in reference to the wave of violent protests rocking American embassies in the Muslim world. “You want these fanatics to have nuclear weapons?”